Interview with Engineering Student, Simon Betts – A Winner in Cardiff University’s Inspired Engineer Award

Congratulations to Simon Betts, one of six engineering students at Cardiff University to win an Inspired Engineer Award. Simon feels strongly about the benefits of taking part in the competition and shares his feedback with us.

When you participated in the competition at what stage were you in your study?
I entered the companioning during my third year of studies (not a winner) and again in my master’s degree year.

Why did you take part in the competition?
I would like to push my ideas into the world. My goal is to make a name for myself as an innovation specialist.

What three things did you learn from taking part in the competition?

• To have faith in the work I am doing
• To be concise in my answers
• To try delivering more while simultaneously not questioning the content to the point of perfectionism

What elements of the competition did you find most challenging?

• Ensuring my answers met the word limit
• Dealing with the confidence to submit the idea

Would you recommend it to other students?
Yes, most certainly.

What were the benefits of taking part?
I benefited most from the reassurance that my work is good, and that the work I am doing is of a high enough standard to even be entered into a competition such as the Inspired Engineer Award.

How will the skills you learned in the competition will help you in the future?
I have already used the skills I have learnt in this competition to pursue bringing my idea to reality in the form of my own company.

Has the experience inspired you to take your business idea further or to develop new ideas?
Yes, I am currently writing proposals for UK government money and taking meetings with business mentors.

Will you be taking any more business courses to increase your knowledge of how to bring an idea to market or how to run a business?
Yes, I have taken the business bootcamp at Cardiff, sought advice and participated in the Ymlean, Syniad and Enterprise workshops. I will also look to enter more business competitions to get this idea out into the world.

I’m pleased to have the opportunity to say how great having this kind of award is for students like myself. It truly encourages people like me to have confidence in their abilities and the ideas that they are generating.  Cardiff University has been more than excellent at hosting this competition and was so accommodating when challenges came up. I would like to thank everyone who was involved!

You can see all Cardiff University’s Inspired Engineer Award winners here.